.
The Trial of Sirius Black
Published 5/16/2014
Updated 5/17/2014
Updated 6/14/2014
"Bring in the prisoner!" The Head Auror's voice rang out across the gray stone benches of Courtroom Ten, prompting his men to bring the murderer before the august body that was the Wizengamot. He was led in, practically encased in chains, his black hair disheveled and partially obscuring his handsome features. He looked around as he was led in, snorting in derision at the sea of plum-colored robes facing him. What did these idiots think they were going to accomplish here today? A few drops of Veritaserum, a couple of questions, and he'd back free again and holding his godson Harry, who would need someone to take care of him now that James and Lily were — gone.
Sirius Black hadn't been very cooperative during the past few hours he'd been held at the Ministry. He'd been found standing ankle-deep in blood, the blood of a dozen innocent Muggles that had been between him and Peter Pettigrew when the little rat tried to blow him apart. Not only had Pettigrew failed to kill him, but he'd managed to blow himself up in the process, it seemed. A fitting ending for a traitor who'd managed to muck up everything else in his life, including his death!
They were all here, Sirius saw — the new Head Auror, Rufus Scrimgeour, staring sternly down at him from the gray stone benches directly in front of him. Next to him was Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, looking ridiculous with that idiotic mustache of his. On the other side of Scrimgeour was Millicent Bagnold, the ugly old bat who was Minister for Magic, and next to her was old man Dumbledore himself, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He was led to the chair in the middle of the courtroom and pushed into the seat. Magical chains shot out of the chair, securing him even more tightly. He glared at the Aurors, but they ignored him, walking away so that all he could see was plum robes and serious faces. Ha, Sirius laughed to himself. Get it? Serious faces!
"Sirius Black." It was Bartemius Crouch, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, not Chief Warlock Dumbledore, who spoke. "You are here to answer for the murders earlier today of Peter Pettigrew and twelve unidentified Muggles in broad daylight before non-magical witnesses. How do you plead?"
"What do you think?" Sirius snapped impatiently. "Not guilty, of course!"
"You deny you murdered those people?" Crouch asked, incredulous.
"Of course I deny it," Sirius retorted. "Pettigrew blew himself up — he was probably scared of what I was going to do to him, the little rat!"
"So you did intend to kill him, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked, looking troubled.
"Oh, I wanted to," Sirius answered Dumbledore honestly, the only man in the room he really respected at all. "He betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort!"
There were gasps at the mention of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "Please refrain from using that name," Scrimgeour said sternly.
"Or what?" Sirius sneered. "Are you going to throw me in Azkaban because you're scared of a name?"
"You may think this is a joke," Scrimgeour said, angrily. "But we know why you killed Pettigrew!"
"You do, eh? Why?" Sirius challenged him, but he could tell from the look on Dumbledore's face that they knew about his and James's plan to use the Fidelius Charm to hide from Voldemort.
"I have made the Minister and Head Auror aware of your plan to hide Lily, James and Harry," the Chief Warlock said quietly. "And that you were to be the Secret-Keeper."
"That's what we told you," Sirius shot back. "But I had a different plan!" He shook his head bitterly. "If I'd known where Peter's loyalties really lay, though, I wouldn't have done what I did."
"Which was?" Dumbledore prompted.
"To have Peter be the Secret-Keeper!" Sirius shouted, angry he was forced to reveal his own stupidity. "He was the one who betrayed them to Voldemort!"
"A likely story," Crouch sneered. "But we have no reason to think that. It seems much more likely that you betrayed the Potters to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then killed Pettigrew to keep him from giving you away!"
"Then give me Veritaserum and ask me to tell you where James and Lily were hiding," Sirius demanded. "I won't be able to, because I'm not the Secret-Keeper! And while you're at it you could ask me if I killed Peter or those Muggles!"
"The death of Peter Pettigrew would have broken the Fidelius," Dumbledore pointed out, "so you would longer be bound by the enchantment."
"So ask me!" Sirius snapped. "I won't be able to tell you!" In his own mind Sirius could envision James and Lily's home, could recall exactly where it was in the town of Godric's Hollow, but until someone asked him to say or otherwise communicate that information to them, he couldn't be sure he wouldn't be able to answer. If Pettigrew was dead, then Sirius had become a Secret-Keeper at his death, but until someone asked him to tell the secret, he couldn't be sure!
"Sirius," Dumbledore spoke slowly, heavily, "I must say, I did not want to believe that you betrayed your best friend and his family, but I am beginning to have my doubts. Perhaps we should test you with Veritaserum —"
"No," Crouch interrupted. "There's no need for that, Dumbledore! It's well known that the Blacks were followers of the Dark Lord — we don't need to waste any potion on this Death Eater!"
"I'm not a Death Eater!" Sirius shouted, trying to get up, but the chains binding him to the chair held him fast. "Check my arm, you'll see!"
At Scrimgeour's nod the Auror who had arrested Black, Cornelius Fudge, moved forward, taking hold of Sirius's left arm and pulling his sleeve up. His left forearm was bare.
"See?" Sirius said loudly. "No Dark Mark!"
"Irrelevant!" Crouch retorted. "With the Dark Lord destroyed, the Mark would have faded!"
"Faded, but not disappeared completely," Dumbledore disagreed. "The lack of a mark on Sirius's arm indicates that he is not a Death Eater."
"But that doesn't make him innocent!" Scrimgeour exclaimed. "Even you must realize that, Dumbledore!"
"It does not make him guilty, either, Rufus," Dumbledore retorted, though his voice was still mild. "That is for this hearing to determine."
"Then let us cut to the heart of the matter," Millicent Bagnold, the Minister for Magic, spoke for the first time. She pointed an accusing finger at Black. "Tell us where James and Lily Potter were hidden!"
Sirius opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He closed it then tried to speak again, with the same result. "I can't tell you!" he finally said. "Now do you believe me? I'm not the Secret-Keeper!"
"You could be pretending not to be the Secret-Keeper!" Scrimgeour scoffed, and many members of the Wizengamot nodded agreement with him.
"Then give me Veritaserum!" Sirius shouted pleadingly. "I'll have to tell the truth then!"
"Enough!" Crouch roared, leaping to his feet. "You are guilty and will be taken immediately to Azkaban prison, where you will remain for the rest of your life! The Wizengamot has spoken!"
"You mean you have spoken!" Sirius shouted as the Aurors grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. "This was no trial! Dumbledore! Make them see reason!" Still shouting his innocence, Sirius was dragged from the room.
Crouch sat down heavily as many of the other members rose and began filing out of the courtroom. "Justice has been served," he muttered, more to himself than the others around him. He stood again, moving toward the courtroom door.
"Has it, Bartemius?" Dumbledore wondered aloud. He remained seated though most of the Wizengamot had departed by now. "We should have given him the Veritaserum, to be sure he was telling the truth."
"You're too trusting, Dumbledore," Scrimgeour scoffed, rising to his own feet. "When the Aurors arrived on that street where Black killed Pettigrew and those Muggles, they found him standing there laughing. What kind of twisted person laughs at the death of so many?"
"A Black would," Bagnold said, distastefully. "All of them were twisted."
"Not Sirius," Dumbledore replied. "At least, I did not believe so. He was the first Black in many years who did not Sort into Slytherin. I believed he had moved beyond the aspirations and expectations of his family."
"Apparently not," Scrimgeour said sourly. "It's over with, Dumbledore. Just let it go — that's the last we'll ever hear from Sirius Black." He walked out of the courtroom behind Bagnold, leaving Dumbledore sitting alone in the courtroom.
Sirius had been right, Dumbledore realized. This was no trial — it was barely a hearing, and justice had not been served, despite what Crouch believed. To think so was to pervert the very meaning of the word "justice." The Wizards' High Court could not be allowed to sully itself by continuing to participate in such injustice.
Dumbledore stood. If the Minister and the head of the DMLE wished to continue with these hearings, Dumbledore would insist they empower a lesser court to do so. He would no longer participate in them. He strode from the empty courtroom.
=ooo=
Dramatis Personae:
Albus Dumbledore - Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
Bartemius Crouch - the Head of the DMLE
Rufus Scrimgeour - the Head Auror
Millicent Bagnold - Minister for Magic
Cornelius Fudge - the Auror who arrested Black
Sirius Black - Last scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black
=ooo=
Timeline of events leading up to the Trial of Sirius Black:
10/20/1981
Dumbledore offers to cast the Fidelius Charm on James and Lily's home. Privately, James and Lily agree that Dumbledore is too obvious to be the Secret-Keeper. They decide to talk the idea over with Sirius.
10/21/1981
Sirius visits James and Lily in Godric's Hollow. They suggest he could be the Secret-Keeper. Sirius agrees.
10/22/1981
James convinces Remus to teach Sirius the Fidelius Charm. Remus and Sirius meet and Remus begins teaching him the very complex charm.
10/23/1981
Remus tells James that Sirius should be able to cast the Fidelius within the week.
10/26/1981
Sirius gets the idea he can make Peter the Secret-Keepter instead of him. Peter is an unlikely candidate so no one would suspect him. James is apprehensive but agrees to the change.
10/27/1981
Sirius talks to Peter, asking him to be the Secret-Keeper for James and Lily's Fidelius. Peter agrees, seeing an opportunity to ingratiate himself with Voldemort, whom he fears, hoping to curry favor with the Dark Lord.
10/28/1981
Peter is brought before Voldemort and tells him about the Fidelius. Voldemort tells Peter to return once he knows their location and give him the secret.
10/29/1981
Sirius and Peter go to Godric's Hollow. Sirius casts the Fidelius, making Peter the Secret-Keeper. Peter tells James and Lily he will take the secret with him to his grave.
10/30/1981
Peter is granted another audience with Voldemort. He tells him where James and Lily can be found. Voldemort is pleased with Peter's news, telling him that he will be rewarded when Voldemort returns after killing the Potters. In reality, Voldemort plans to kill Peter so it will appear to everyone that Sirius was the Secret Keeper, since everyone who knows a Fidelius secret becomes a Secret Keeper when the original Secret Keeper dies.
10/31/1981 - Halloween
6:45 pm
Voldemort attacks James and Lily in their home in Godric's Hollow.
6:46 pm
Voldemort kills James, finds Lily protecting Harry.
6:47 pm
Voldemort kills Lily, tries to kill Harry and the Killing Curse rebounds on him, blasting his body into nothingness. Lily's blood sacrifice protects Harry from the blast.
7:01 pm
Dumbledore arrives in Godric's Hollow to ask James and Lily to reconsider his offer, having heard that Remus was going to cast the spell. He finds the house blasted apart, with Harry unharmed inside the wreckage, and sets spells on the home so Muggles cannot see or approach it.
7:02 pm
Dumbledore repairs Harry's crib and places him inside it, then sends a Patronus to Minerva McGonagall, telling her to have Hagrid come to Godric's Hollow as quickly as he can. He does not tell her what has happened to James and Lily.
7:08 pm
McGonagall's Patronus comes to Dumbledore, telling him Hagrid is not in his cabin. She found a flyer there saying a Halloween party would be held at the Leaky Caldron that night from 6 pm until closing. She plans to go to there to find him.
7:20 pm
McGonagall's Patronus reappears, telling Dumbledore she found Hagrid and Sirius Black at the Leaky Cauldron. Dumbledore sends his Patronus to Hagrid at the Leaky Cauldron. When it arrives it does not speak; a blue ball of light leaves the Patronus and goes into Hagrid. He asks Sirius if he can borrow his motorcycle and Sirius agrees, though Hagrid doesn't say where he's going or what he wants the bike for. Hagrid leaves on the motorcycle while Sirius remains at the party, planning to visit James and Lily just before midnight.
7:35 pm
Hagrid has not yet arrived. Dumbledore casts his Patronus and has it wait there so it can protect Harry and tell Hagrid to bring him to the Burrow until Dumbledore summons him. Leaving the Patronus standing guard, he Apparates to Little Whinging to see Lily's sister Petunia about taking care of Harry.
7:37 pm
Dumbledore visits the Dursley, invisible so they do not see him, and discovers that they do not like anything strange or out of the ordinary. He does not speak to them, but decides that, as much as they both seem to love their infant son, they will be adequate guardians for Harry until he is ready to attend Hogwarts at age 11.
7:44 pm
Dumbledore travels to the Ministry of Magic, telling Minister Millicent Bagnold that Voldemort murdered James and Lily Potter but was seemingly destroyed when he attempted to kill young Harry. Bagnold releases the news to the Daily Prophet, which immediately begins printing a special edition on the death of You-Know-Who and the end of the war.
8:58 pm
Hagrid arrives in Godric's Hollow on Sirius's motorcycle. The Patronus tells him Harry is alive and in his crib, and to take him to the Burrow for Molly and Arthur to care for him until Dumbledore summons him. Hagrid finds Harry in his crib and leaves with him on the motorcycle.
10:25 pm
A special edition of the Prophet is released announcing of the death of James and Lily, and the disappearance and presumed death of You-Know-Who. Celebrations begin as witches and wizards read of the demise of the Dark Lord.
10:42 pm
In the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius reads the news about James and Lily. Horrified, he immediately Apparates to Godric's Hollow, finding their house blasted, their bodies in the hallway and Harrys bedroom, and the empty crib. He realizes that Peter must have told Voldemort where to find them, and that he made a huge mistake in trusting Peter. Believing Peter took Harry, he vows to find Peter, rescue Harry from him, then kill him for betraying his friends and causing their deaths.
11/1/1981 - The Feast of All Hallows
8:30 am
Vernon Dursley leaves his home to go to work at Grunnings. At the corner of Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk he thinks he sees a cat reading a map, but when he looks again the cat is just sitting there. He watches the cat and it seems to look at the street sign, but cats don't read signs or maps, so he dismisses the idea and continues on to work.
8:31 am
The cat (McGonagall) goes to the garden wall of number 4 Privet Drive and sits there, waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. He had told her he would arrive before the end of the day but he did not say when or why. McGonagall spends the day waiting for him, wondering what he could possibly want with these thoroughly unlikable Muggles.
10:30 pm
The Dursleys go to bed.
11:52 pm
Dumbledore arrives on Privet Drive, noticing McGonagall watching him. He has just sent his Patronus to visit Hagrid and tell him where to bring Harry.
11:59 pm
Hagrid arrives on Sirius Black's motorcycle carrying young Harry. Dumbledore leaves him on the Dursley doorstep, placing a letter within his blankets explaining to Petunia that she is to care for Harry as if he were her own son, to honor the memory of her sister Lily. He places a Warming Charm on the blankets to keep the cold off Harry, then he, McGonagall and Hagrid depart.
11/02/1981 - All Souls Day
12:37 am
Hagrid returns to the Leaky Cauldron with Sirius's motorcycle, but Sirius is no longer there. He decides not to go to Grimmauld Place, Sirius's home (Hagrid is wary of the Blacks in general, as they are all Slytherin with the exception of young Sirius), and rides the bike back to the Burrow, asking Arthur to store it there until he can give it back to Sirius. Arthur, fascinated with the idea of a flying vehicle, agrees, deciding not to tell Molly just yet.
12:32 pm
Sirius, who has been tracking Peter's movements through London since the night before, learns that he going to the Cask and Glass, a small pub south of Buckingham Palace, to pick up an illegal Portkey so he can leave Britain and hide in Europe. What Sirius does not know is that Peter, fearful he will be targeted by Death Eaters for his role in the demise of the Dark Lord, as well as by Sirius and Order of the Phoenix members for the deaths of James and Lily, plans to trick the wizarding world into believing he is dead, leaving Sirius to take the blame.
12:35 pm
Sirius confronts Peter at the intersection of Buckingham Gate and Birdcage Walk, just southeast of Buckingham Palace, not realizing Peter has lured him to this location so he could fake his own death. Sirius stops Peter and orders him to tell him what he's done with young Harry, Peter yells that Sirius betrayed James and Lily, then severs his right index finger with the wand in his left hand, casts a Blasting Curse between himself and Sirius, and Disapparats at the same moment, making it seem as if the blast had killed him. It did succeed in blowing a large crater in the street and killing 12 innocent bystanders.
12:36 pm
Sirius, who instinctively shielded himself from the blast, looks around, aghast at the deaths Peter had apparently caused while blowing himself up. It strikes him as absurdly funny that Pettigrew would kill himself rather than try to fight Sirius in a duel, and he begins laughing. He is still laughing when Aurors arrive and take him into custody, then begin the task of erasing the memories of Muggle onlookers who survived the blast.
2:33 pm
Sirius is brought before a hastily convened Wizengamot to answer for the death of Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles.
=ooo=
A/N: Hope you enjoyed my speculations on these events. Comments are welcome!
A/N #2: I've added some detail to the timeline. Thanks to Son of Whitebeard who suggested that Fudge should have made an appearance. I managed to work in a small reference to him as well as a short description of Bagnold.
A/N #3: Fixed the 2014 typo to 1981.